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(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1.

W. B. SANDFORD. MANUFACTURE OF SQUARE METAL PIPE.

No. 368,622. Patented Aug. 23, 1887.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3. W. B. SANDPOBD.

MANUFACTURE OF SQUARE METAL PIPE.

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WILLIAM B. SANDFORD, OF KEIVANEE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE HAXTUN STEAM HEATER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MANUFACTURE OF SQUARE lVl ETAL PIPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.368,622, dated August 23,1887.

Application filed March 1, 1887.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. SANDFORD, residing at Kewanee, in the county of Henry and State of Illinois,and a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Square Metal Pipe, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a front View of one of my dies. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same die. Figs. 3 and 4 are rear views of two other. dies similar to that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a crosssection showing a piece of square pipe as made by the dies shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Fig. 6 is a rear view of another die. Fig. 7 is a front view of still another die. Fig. 8 is a section at line 00 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a crosssection of a piece of square pipe made by the use of all the dies. Fig. 10 is a side elevation showing the rolls used to assist in shaping the pipe after it has been passed through the forming-dies shown on Sheet 1, showing, also, the intermediate gear and other gear; also the straightening-die through which the square pipcpasses after it leaves therolls also a trough at the front and one at the rear. Fig. 11 is a detail,being a horizontal section taken through the straightening-die. Fig. 12 is a detail, being a cross-section through the straighteningdi'e. Fig. 13 is a reverse side elevation showing the principal parts of the machine. Fig. 14 is a detail showing the screw which raises the lower half of the bearing for the shaft of the upper roll, and also holds the upper half of the bearing for the shaft for the lower roll in place. Fig. 15 is a front elevation showing the rolls, the frame in which their shafts are supported, and some other parts.

Prior to the making of my invention the manufacture of square iron or steel pipe was attended with great difficulty.

The leading object of my invention is to provide improved devices by the use of which square iron or steel pipe can be readily made without the use of a mandrel or other interior support, which is accomplished as illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter described.

-5 are not'angular, but are rounding.

Serial No. 229,356. (No model.)

My invention also includes my method of making square iron or steel pipe.

That which I suppose to be new will be pointed out in the claims.

I manufacture square iron or steel pipe from round pipe, which has been made and welded in the usual manner, by first passing such round pipe through a series of dies of peculiar form and then finish the pipe by forcing it by means of rolls through a straightening-die. In some cases I use the straightening-die without the rolls; but the latter perform the important function of readily forcing the pipe through the straightening-die, and thus the cost is lessened.

In the drawings, A represents a die of unequal diameter at its two ends, the-front end (shown in Fig. 1) being the larger. This die is bell-shaped; but the interior of the die, instead of being round, has four faces, a, which approach a rectangular form; but these four faces a are somewhat concave, as indicated at b, Fig. 2. This form is important, because if these faces were straight there would be a square hole for the pipe, and the sides of the pipe, having no internal support, would bulge inwardly, leaving its four outer surfaces more or less concave. By using dies having concave faces the pressure on the pipe near the corners of the dies will be greater than else where.

B is a second die similar in form to the die A, except that the concavity of the faces is less than in the die A. O is another die similar to that shown in Fig. 3; but the concavity of the faces is still less than in such Fig. 3. The round pipe is to be drawn first through the die A,then through the die B,then through the die 0, being reheated a few seconds after being passed through one die before being passed through the next.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a piece of pipe in cross-section such as can be made by the use of the three dies shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. It will be observed that the corners both outside and inside of this piece of pipe in IFfig.

be desired to make the corners more angular,

that can be done by drawing the pipe through additional dies havingfaces still less concave, as shown in Fig. 6, and the last die used may have its outer end entirely square, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a cross-section of a piece of pipe the corners of which are angular, which form can be given as just described. The pipe can be drawn through the dies in the ordinary manner. A rod or tag may be welded to the skelp-iron from which the round pipe is made to facilitate handling thereof, as is common. This tag can be grasped by tongs in connection with suitable machinery for the purpose of drawing the pipe through the dies,or the pipe can be drawn through them in any other suitable known manner. The dies can be held in place in any suitable known manner. After the pipe has been drawn through the last bell-shaped die, I run it through a pair of rolls, each having in its periphery an angular groove so formed that when the two rolls are together the two grooves form an exact square. G H, Figs. 15 and 18, represent these two rolls. f is the angular groove in the roll G. g is the angular groove in the roll H.

h is apiece of square pipe.

I is an angular trough in which the pipe is supported while it is passing to the rolls.

The rolls are located in any suitable machine and driven in any known manner, and therefore a full description of the roll-machine will not be required. The upper roll-shaft is adjustable by means of screws in the usual manner.

J K are two intermediate gear-wheels, the upper one of which can be adjusted horizontally, as may be necessary when the roll G is adjusted vertically. This adjustment is provided for in the usual manner.

L is a gear-wheel on the main driving-shaft, which engages with the gear-wheel M. N is another gear-wheel on the shaft which carries the wheel M, and the wheel N engages with the gear-wheel O on the shaft which carries the roll H, which wheel 0 engages with the intermediate gear-wheel, K, which wheel K engages with the gear-wheel J, and the wheel J engages with the gear-wheel P on the shaft which carries the roll G.

Q is a straightening-die, through which the pipe is forced as it comes from the rolls G H. This straightening-die may be of any desired length-say from eight to sixteen inches long. The pipe will be somewhat more perfectly squared by passing between the rolls G H, and will be still more perfectly squared and sized by passing through the straighteningdie Q, which die also keeps the pipe from twisting and has a tendency to take out any twist therein. Figs. 11 and 12 show details of this straightening-die. As shown in these two figures, the die is made in two halves firmly bolted together. This die, if desired, might be divided vertically, one side being stationary and the other movable by one or more screws. The only object in dividing the die vertically-is to facilitate the insertion of the pipe or the tag into the die when the tag is used; but it is not necessary to make the die in two piecesone stationary and the other movable.

R is a trough into which the completed pipe passes from the straightening-die Q, in which trough the pipe can be allowed to remain while cooling, the trough being as long as the pipe.

To make square pipe of the most perfect form, I first draw the round pipe through a number of dies, such as before described,then pass the pipe thus formed through the rolls G and H, and also through the straighteningdie Q.

Square pipe can be made by simply drawing round pipe through a number of my dies having concave faces and then through the straightening-die 'R without using the rolls G H.

When the pipe is to be brought to substantially the form shown in Fig. 9 by the use of dies alone, I use, to begin with, round pipe somewhat larger than that used when square pipe of the form shown in Fig. 5 is to be made.

Of course, the pipe is to be hot while pass ing through the several dies and through the rolls and straighteningdie.

As shown, each of the dies except the straightening'die is made in a single piece, which, of course, is the best form of construction; but either one or all of the dies may be made in two or more pieces, retaining the peculiar form described.

If the rolls are used, they force the pipe through the straightening-die. When the rolls are not used, the pipe may be drawn through the straightening-die by means of a tag and other known devices.

. What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A bell-shaped die substantially rectangular in cross-section on the inside, but having its acting faces more or less concaved, for the purpose of making nearly square pipe from round pipe, substantially as specified.

2. A straightening-die, Q, having through it a hole which is square in cross-section, for the purpose of straightening nearly square pipe and preventing the same from twisting, substantially as specified.

3. The rolls G H, having angular grooves in their faces, in combination with the straightening-die Q, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4.. Bell-shaped dies substantially rectangular in cross-se'ction on the inside, but having their faces concaved jointly with a straightening-die, Q, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

5. Bell-shaped dies substantially rectangular in cross-section on the inside, but having concave faces jointly with rolls G H, and a IIIS straighteningdie, substantially as and for the having concave faces, and then forcing the purpose specified., pipe through a straightening-die, substan- IO 6. lhe method of making square metal pipe tially as specified.

from round pipe without employing a man- 5 drel or other interior support, which consists WILLIAM SANDFORD' in passing the pipe successively through each Witnesses: of a series of bell-shaped dies substantially W. E. HAXTUN,

rectangular in cross-section on the inside but E. E. BAKER. 

